February 18, 2013

Exhibition co-organized by Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín

Members of the media are invited to Mint Museum Uptown on Friday, February 22 to preview the new exhibition Sociales: Débora Arango Arrives Todayand conduct interviews with its organizing curator, Oscar Roldán-Alzate of the Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín, Colombia. One-on-one interviews are available by reservation between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on that date (other dates and times may be available upon request).

Sociales: Débora Arango Arrives Today opens to the public at Mint Museum Uptown on Saturday, February 23 and remains on view through June 16. The Medellín-born painter Débora Arango, who died in 2005 at the age of 98, was one of the pioneers of modern Colombian art. She is considered one of the most important and controversial modern artists of her time. Although her work is well regarded today in her native country, Arango had to fight against the conservative elite’s prejudice throughout her life due to the political and social context of her paintings about the non-official civil war of the 1940s and 1950s, la época de La Violencia (1946-1963). Today, these paintings constitute an important site of collective memory.

Her work displays a sharp, perceptive, and courageous attitude, as she presented any political event in Latin America as if they were sociales (society columns). This is the first show by Arango in the United States. This exhibition includes the most emblematic works from every stage of her career and is accompanied by a scholarly bilingual catalogue with color illustrations.

Media gallery tours and interviews with curators of both F.O.O.D. and the Motoi exhibition will be available at the preview on March 1 at 10 a.m. And on March 3, the media is invited to return to observe the community dismantling of a large-scale saltwork by Motoi, Floating Garden, which is being created in the Robert Haywood Morrison Atrium of Mint Museum Uptown between February 18 and March 1. RSVP to all events by emailing leigh.dyer@mintmuseum.org.

Sociales: Débora Arango Arrives Today is made possible through generous support from Polymer Group Inc. The exhibition is organized by Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín, Colombia, and Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, California. The Mint Museum’s bilingual initiative is brought to our community through generous support from Duke Energy.